A co-pending application for U.S. patent, Ser. No. 10/624,073, filed Jul. 21, 2003, discloses an electrical terminal in which spring contacts held in a carrier body are brought into engagement with conductive pads on one or more surfaces of a circuitboard proximate an edge thereof. The terminals disclosed in the above-identified application are box-like metal bodies formed by strategically bending a stamping so as to exhibit a spring contact which is extended axially outward and is curved or folded back to provide a resilient member which slidingly engages an edge trace on the circuitboard. The carrier body positions the contact member so that it is brought into resilient engagement with the trace on the circuitboard as the board is inserted into the body.
Another co-pending application Ser. No. 10/639,307, filed Aug. 12, 2003, discloses a conductive spring-type terminal for connecting a wire or cable to an edge trace on a circuitboard by gripping or trapping the circuitboard between opposing contact elements. The terminal body exhibits a main spring contact on one side of the body and, in opposing relationship to the main contact, a pair of stabilizing contacts which are spread apart so as to effectively straddle the projected area of the main contact thereby to improve the stability of the electrical contact and help to prevent intermittent contact which sometimes occurs with prior art devices.
The terminals described above are preferably made from conductive metal stampings which, after the stamping operation, are bent and mechanically locked into the desired box-like shape.